City ponders cell phone ban for drivers

April 21, 2004|By Frank Michels, Staff Writer

GAYLORD - "Everybody does it (uses a cell phone while driving). You've done it. I've done it. But that doesn't mean we should do it," said Gaylord City Police Chief John Jenkins about cell phone usage while driving a car.

Gaylord City Council member Gerald Campbell prompted discussion about the possibility of banning cell phone use for drivers inside the city limits at the April 12 council meeting.

"Talk about safety," Campbell said. "I've been observing a lot of people driving around while on cell phones."

Campbell said the worst example he's seen was a person who was talking on a cell phone while driving, smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee.

Campbell said because the number of cell phones is multiplying along with traffic in the city, the issue of whether people should be prohibited from using cell phones while driving will eventually need to be addressed.

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Council member Pat Mankowski said the issue was an important one which should be further investigated. "I'd like to see what the rest of the county thinks."

Jenkins said he's currently researching what's being done in other localities and other states. "Everybody who reads this article will recognize two things: themselves doing it (talking on a cell phone while driving) and seeing other people doing it. Some may have even witnessed a near-accident when they've realized someone in front of them has stopped, causing sheer panic," he said.

Statistically, Jenkins said, cell phone use while driving may contribute to about 1 to 4 percent of accidents. In Gaylord, that would represent about 12 traffic accidents a year. In 2003, the city police department investigated 272 accidents in the city. Jenkins cautioned, however, that it's likely the incidence of cell phone usage as a causal factor may be largely under-reported.

"Typically a driver is not going to tell you they were using a cell phone when they ran into the back of someone else's car," he said.

While the city presently has no ordinance regulating the use of cell phones within city limits, Jenkins said, a person involved in an accident caused by cell phone use may be charged with wreckless or careless driving.

Jenkins suggests that people wishing to make a cell phone call from their car pull over to the side of the road or stop at a rest area.

"I don't like accidents and I don't like people directing their attention away from driving. Then throw in the mix someone dropping the cigarette they're smoking in their lap; or they spill their coffee or the cheeseburger they're eating falls in their lap … There is a whole laundry list of issues that cause accidents. Cell phone use is one of those."

F.Y.I.

€ The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that driver distraction is a contributing cause of 20 to 30 percent of all motor vehicle crashes - or 1.2 million accidents yearly. One researcher has estimated that driver inattention may cause as many as 10,000 deaths each year and approximately $40 billion in damages.

€ Although opinions differ over which distractions cause the most crashes, one activity has drawn the bulk of the attention from lawmakers across the United States: the use of the wireless phone while driving.

€ Since 1999, every state has considered legislation related to driver use of wireless phones.

€ During the 2003 session alone, legislatures in 42 states considered such measures.

€ Seventeen states have passed laws regarding mobile phone use while driving, at least 17 track mobile phone involvement in crashes, and legislatures in six states have approved studies to gather more information on the issue.

€ Since 1998, the number of wireless phone subscribers in the United States has more than doubled. According to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), more than 151 million people now use wireless services.

€ Estimates of the number of people who use their phones while driving vary from 50 percent to as high as 73 percent.

€ There is little consensus about whether phones or other communication and information devices that are available in motor vehicles pose a significant enough threat to public safety to justify legislative restrictions.